Numbers 19-26

New American Standard Bible

Ordinance of the Red Heifer

19 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ² “This is the statute of the law which the Lord has commanded, saying, ‘Speak to the sons of Israel that they bring you an ^(A)unblemished red heifer in which there is no defect and ^(B)on which a yoke has never ^[a]been mounted. ³ And you shall give it to ^(C)Eleazar the priest, and it shall ^(D)be brought outside the camp and be slaughtered in his presence. ⁴ And Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and ^(E)sprinkle some of its blood toward the front of the tent of meeting seven times. ⁵ Then the heifer shall be burned in his sight; ^(F)its hide, its flesh, and its blood, with its refuse, shall be burned. ⁶ And the priest shall take ^(G)cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet material, and throw it into the midst of the ^[b]burning heifer. ⁷ The priest ^(H)shall then wash his clothes and bathe his ^[c]body in water, and afterward come into the camp; but the priest will be ^[d]unclean until evening. ⁸ The one who burns ^[e]the heifer shall also wash his clothes in water and bathe his ^[f]body in water, and will be unclean until evening. ⁹ Now a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and put them outside the camp in a clean place, and ^[g]the congregation of the sons of Israel shall keep them for ^(I)water to remove impurity; it is ^[h]purification from sin. ¹⁰ And the one who gathers the ashes of the heifer ^(J)shall wash his clothes and will be unclean until evening; and it shall be a permanent statute for the sons of Israel and for the stranger who resides among them.

¹¹ ‘^(K)The one who touches the dead body of any ^[i]person will also be unclean for seven days. ¹² That one shall ^(L)purify himself with ^[j]the water on the third day and on the seventh day, and then he will be clean; but if he does not purify himself on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not be clean. ^13 (M)Anyone who touches a dead body, the ^[k]body of a person who has died, and does not purify himself, ^(N)defiles the ^[l]tabernacle of the Lord; and that person shall be cut off from Israel. Since the water for impurity was not ^(O)sprinkled on him, he will be unclean; his uncleanness is still on him.

¹⁴ ‘This is the law when a person dies in a tent: everyone who comes into the tent and everyone who is in the tent will be unclean for seven days. ¹⁵ And every open container, which has no cover tied down on it, will be unclean. ^16 (P)Also, anyone who in the open field touches one who has been killed with a sword or one who has died naturally, or touches a human bone or a grave, will be unclean for seven days. ¹⁷ Then for the unclean person they shall take some of the ^[m]ashes of the ^[n]burnt ^[o](Q)purification from sin and ^[p]running water shall be ^[q]added to them in a container. ¹⁸ And a clean person shall take hyssop and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it on the tent, on all the furnishings, on the persons who were there, and on the one who touched the bone or the one who was killed or the one who died naturally, or the grave. ¹⁹ Then the clean person ^(R)shall sprinkle on the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day; and on the seventh day he shall purify him, and he shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and will be clean by evening.

²⁰ ‘But the person who is unclean and does not purify himself, that person shall be cut off from the midst of the assembly, because he has ^(S)defiled the sanctuary of the Lord; the water for impurity has not been sprinkled on him, so he is unclean. ²¹ So it shall be a permanent statute for them. And the one ^(T)who sprinkles the water for impurity shall wash his clothes, and the one who touches the water for impurity will be unclean until evening. ^22 (U)Furthermore, anything that the unclean person touches will be unclean; and the person who touches it will be unclean until evening.’”

Death of Miriam

20 Then the sons of Israel, the whole congregation, came to the ^(V)wilderness of Zin in the first month; and the people stayed at Kadesh. Now Miriam died there and was buried there.

^2 (W)There was no water for the congregation, ^(X)and they assembled against Moses and Aaron. ^3 (Y)Then the people argued with Moses and spoke, saying, “^(Z)If only we had perished ^(AA)when our brothers perished before the Lord! ^4 (AB)Why then have you brought the Lord’s assembly into this wilderness, for us and our livestock to die ^[r]here? ⁵ Why did you make us come up from Egypt, to bring us into this wretched place? ^(AC)It is not a place of ^[s]grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, nor is there water to drink!” ⁶ Then Moses and Aaron came in from the presence of the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting and ^(AD)fell on their faces. And the glory of the Lord appeared to them; ⁷ then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

The Waters of Meribah

⁸ “Take ^(AE)the staff; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it shall yield its water. So you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and have the congregation and their livestock drink.”

⁹ So Moses took the staff ^(AF)from before the Lord, just as He had commanded him; ¹⁰ and Moses and Aaron summoned the assembly in front of the rock. And he said to them, “^(AG)Listen now, you rebels; shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” ¹¹ Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff; and ^(AH)water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their livestock drank. ¹² But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “^(AI)Since you did not trust in Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, for that reason you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” ¹³ Those were called the waters of ^[t](AJ)Meribah, ^[u]because the sons of Israel argued with the Lord, and He proved Himself holy among them.

¹⁴ From Kadesh Moses then sent messengers to ^(AK)the king of Edom to say, “This is what your brother Israel has said: ‘You ^(AL)know all the hardship that has ^[v]overtaken us; ¹⁵ that our fathers went down to Egypt, and we stayed in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians treated us and our fathers badly. ¹⁶ But ^(AM)when we cried out to the Lord, He heard our voice and sent ^(AN)an angel, and brought us out from Egypt; now behold, we are at Kadesh, a town on the edge of your territory. ¹⁷ Please ^(AO)let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or vineyard; we will not even drink water from a well. We will go along the king’s road, not turning to the right or left, until we pass through your territory.’”

^18 (AP)Edom, however, said to him, “You shall not pass through ^[w]us, or I will come out with the sword against you.” ¹⁹ Again, the sons of Israel said to him, “We will go up by the road, and if I and ^(AQ)my livestock do drink any of your water, ^(AR)then I will ^[x]pay its price. Let me only pass through on my feet, ^[y]nothing more.” ²⁰ But he said, “^(AS)You shall not pass through.” And Edom came out against him with a heavy ^[z]force and a strong hand. ^21 (AT)So Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through his territory; ^(AU)then Israel turned away from him.

²² Now when they set out from ^(AV)Kadesh, the sons of Israel, the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor.

Death of Aaron

²³ Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron at ^(AW)Mount Hor by the border of the land of Edom, saying, ²⁴ “Aaron will be ^(AX)gathered to his people; for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the sons of Israel, because ^(AY)you rebelled against My ^[aa]command at the waters of Meribah. ²⁵ Take Aaron and his son ^(AZ)Eleazar, and bring them up to Mount Hor. ²⁶ Then strip Aaron of his garments and put them on his son Eleazar. So Aaron will be ^(BA)gathered to his people and will die there.” ²⁷ So Moses did just as the Lord had commanded, and they went up to Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. ²⁸ And after Moses stripped Aaron of his garments and ^(BB)put them on his son Eleazar, ^(BC)Aaron died there on the mountain top. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. ²⁹ When all the congregation saw that Aaron had died, the whole house of Israel wept for Aaron for thirty ^(BD)days.

Arad Conquered

21 When the Canaanite, the king of ^(BE)Arad, who lived in the ^[ab]Negev, heard that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim, he fought against Israel and took some of them captive. ² So ^(BF)Israel made a vow to the Lord and said, “If You will indeed hand over this people to me, then I will ^[ac]utterly destroy their cities.” ³ The Lord heard the voice of Israel and turned over the Canaanites; then they ^[ad]utterly destroyed them and their cities. And the place was named ^[ae](BG)Hormah.

⁴ Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way of the ^[af]Red Sea, to ^(BH)go around the land of Edom; and the ^[ag]people became impatient because of the journey. ⁵ So the people spoke against God and Moses: “^(BI)Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no ^[ah]food and no water, and ^[ai](BJ)we are disgusted with ^[aj]this miserable food.”

The Bronze Serpent

^6 (BK)Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and ^(BL)they bit the people, so that ^(BM)many people of Israel died. ^7 (BN)So the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord and against you; ^(BO)intercede with the Lord, that He will remove the serpents from us.” And Moses interceded for the people. ⁸ Then the Lord said to Moses, “^[ak]Make a ^(BP)fiery serpent, and put it on a flag pole; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, and looks at it, will live.” ⁹ So Moses made a ^(BQ)bronze serpent and put it on the flag pole; and it came about, that if a serpent bit someone, and he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

^10 (BR)Now the sons of Israel moved out and camped in Oboth. ¹¹ Then they journeyed from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim, in the wilderness which is opposite Moab, to the ^[al]east. ^12 (BS)From there they set out and camped in ^[am]Wadi Zered. ¹³ From there they journeyed and camped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness that comes out of the border of the Amorites; ^(BT)for the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. ¹⁴ For that reason it is said in the Book of the Wars of the Lord,

^16 (BV)From there they continued to ^[ao]Beer, that is the well where the Lord said to Moses, “Assemble the people, that I may give them water.”

^17 (BW)Then Israel sang this song:

And from the wilderness they continued to Mattanah, ¹⁹ and from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth, ²⁰ and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the land of Moab, at the top of Pisgah, which overlooks the ^[ap]desert.

Two Victories

^21 (BX)Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, saying, ²² “^(BY)Let me pass through your land. We will not turn off into field or vineyard; we will not drink water from wells. We will go by the king’s road until we have passed through your border.” ^23 (BZ)But Sihon would not permit Israel to pass through his border. Instead, Sihon gathered all his people and went out against Israel in the wilderness, and came to ^(CA)Jahaz and fought against Israel. ²⁴ Then ^(CB)Israel struck him with the edge of the sword, and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the sons of Ammon; for the ^(CC)border of the sons of Ammon was ^[aq]Jazer. ²⁵ Israel took all these cities, and ^(CD)Israel lived in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon and in all her ^[ar]villages. ²⁶ For Heshbon was the city of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken all his land out of his hand, as far as the Arnon. ²⁷ For that reason those who use proverbs say,

³¹ So Israel lived in the land of the Amorites. ³² Now Moses sent men to spy out ^(CM)Jazer, and they captured its villages and dispossessed the Amorites who were there.

^33 (CN)Then they turned and went up by the way of Bashan, and Og the king of Bashan went out against them ^[au]with all his people, for battle at ^(CO)Edrei. ³⁴ But the Lord said to Moses, “^(CP)Do not fear him, for I have handed him over to you, and all his people and his land; and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.” ³⁵ So ^(CQ)they ^[av]killed him and his sons and all his people, until there was no survivor left; and they took possession of his land.

Balak Sends for Balaam

22 ^(CR)Then the sons of Israel journeyed on, and camped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan opposite Jericho.

² Now ^(CS)Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. ^3 (CT)So Moab was in great fear because of the people, for they were numerous; and Moab was in dread of the sons of Israel. ⁴ Moab said to the elders of ^(CU)Midian, “Now this ^[aw]horde will eat up all that is around us, as the ox eats up the grass of the field!” And Balak the son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time. ⁵ So he sent messengers to ^(CV)Balaam the son of Beor, at ^(CW)Pethor, which is near the Euphrates River, in the land of the sons of his people, to call for him, saying, “Behold, a people came out of Egypt; behold, they have covered the surface of the land, and they are living opposite me. ^6 (CX)Now, therefore, please come, ^(CY)curse this people for me since they are too ^[ax]mighty for me; perhaps I will be able to ^[ay]defeat them and drive them out of the land. For I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.”

⁷ So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian left with the fees for ^(CZ)divination in their hands; and they came to Balaam and ^[az]repeated Balak’s words to him. ⁸ And he said to them, “Spend the night here, and I will bring word back to you just as the Lord may speak to me.” And the leaders of Moab stayed with Balaam. ⁹ Then ^(DA)God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?” ¹⁰ Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, sent word to me: ¹¹ ‘Behold, there is a people who came out of Egypt, and they cover the surface of the land; now come, curse them for me; perhaps I will be able to fight against them and drive them out.’” ¹² But God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them; ^(DB)you shall not curse the people, for they ^(DC)are blessed.” ¹³ So Balaam got up in the morning and said to Balak’s representatives, “Go back to your land, for the Lord has refused to let me go with you.” ¹⁴ And the representatives from Moab got up and went to Balak, and said, “Balaam refused to come with us.”

¹⁵ Then Balak sent representatives once again, more numerous and more distinguished than ^[ba]the previous. ¹⁶ They came to Balaam and said to him, “This is what Balak the son of Zippor says: ‘I beg you, let nothing keep you from coming to me; ¹⁷ for I will indeed honor you richly, and I will do whatever you tell me. ^(DD)Please come then, curse this people for me.’” ¹⁸ But Balaam replied to the servants of Balak, “^(DE)Even if Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything, either small or great, contrary to the ^[bb]command of the Lord my God. ¹⁹ Now please, you also stay here tonight, and I will find out what else the Lord will say to me.” ²⁰ And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise and go with them; but you shall do ^(DF)only the thing that I tell you.”

^21 (DG)So Balaam arose in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the leaders of Moab.

The Angel and Balaam

²² But God was angry that he was going, ^(DH)and the angel of the Lord took his stand in the road as an adversary against him. Now he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. ²³ When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn in his hand, the donkey turned off from the road and went into the field; and Balaam struck the donkey to guide her back onto the road. ²⁴ Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path of the vineyards, with a stone wall on this side and on that side. ²⁵ When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she pressed herself against the wall and pressed Balaam’s foot against the wall, so he struck her again. ²⁶ Then the angel of the Lord went farther, and stood in a narrow place where there was no way to turn to the right or to the left. ²⁷ When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam; so ^(DI)Balaam was angry and struck the donkey with his staff. ²⁸ Then ^(DJ)the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” ²⁹ And Balaam said to the donkey, “It is because you have made a mockery of me! If only there had been a sword in my hand! For ^(DK)I would have killed you by now!” ³⁰ But the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden all your life to this day? Have I ever been in the habit of doing such a thing to you?” And he said, “No.”

³¹ Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw ^(DL)the angel of the Lord standing in the way with his sword drawn in his hand; and he bowed ^[bc]all the way to the ground. ³² Then the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out as an adversary, because your way was ^(DM)reckless and contrary to me. ³³ But the donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If she had not turned away from me, I certainly would have killed you just now, and let her live.” ³⁴ So Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, “^(DN)I have sinned, for I did not know that you were standing in the way against me. Now then, if it is displeasing to you, I will turn back.” ³⁵ But the angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but ^(DO)you shall speak only the word that I ^[bd]tell you.” So Balaam went along with the representatives of Balak.

³⁶ When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him at the city of Moab, which is on the Arnon border, ^[be]at the extreme end of the border. ³⁷ Then Balak said to Balaam, “Did I not urgently send word to you to call for you? Why did you not come to me? Am I really unable to honor you?” ³⁸ So Balaam said to Balak, “Behold, I have come to you now! ^(DP)Am I really able to speak anything? The word that God puts in my mouth, that only shall I speak.” ³⁹ And Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath-huzoth. ⁴⁰ Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep, and sent some to Balaam and the leaders who were with him.

⁴¹ Then it came about in the morning that Balak took Balaam and brought him up to ^[bf](DQ)the high places of Baal, and he saw from there ^[bg]a ^(DR)portion of the people.

The Prophecies of Balaam

23 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.” ² Balak did just as Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam offered up a bull and a ram on each altar. ³ Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stand beside your burnt offering, and I will go; perhaps the Lord will come to meet me, and whatever He shows me I will tell you.” So he went to a bare hill.

⁴ Now God met with Balaam, and he said to Him, “I have set up the seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.” ⁵ Then the Lord ^(DS)put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and this is what you shall speak.” ⁶ So he returned to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, he and all the leaders of Moab. ⁷ And he took up his discourse and said,

¹¹ Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? ^(EA)I took you to put a curse on my enemies, but behold, you have actually blessed them!” ¹² He replied, “Must I not be careful to speak ^(EB)what the Lord puts in my mouth?”

¹³ Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place from where you may see them, although you will only see the extreme end of them and will not see all of them; and put a curse on them for me from there.” ¹⁴ So he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. ¹⁵ Then he said to Balak, “Stand here beside your burnt offering while I myself meet the Lord over there.” ¹⁶ Then the Lord met Balaam and ^(EC)put a word in his mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and this is what you shall speak.” ¹⁷ So he came to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the leaders of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, “What has the Lord spoken?” ¹⁸ Then he took up his discourse and said,

²⁵ Then Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them at all nor bless them at all!” ²⁶ But Balaam replied to Balak, “Did I not tell you, ‘^[bi](EP)Whatever the Lord speaks, I must do’?”

²⁷ Then Balak said to Balaam, “Please come, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will be ^[bj]agreeable with God that you curse them for me from there.” ²⁸ So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the ^[bk]desert. ²⁹ And Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.” ³⁰ Balak did just as Balaam had said, and offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.

The Prophecy from Peor

24 When Balaam saw that it ^[bl]pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go as at other times to ^[bm]seek ^(EQ)omens, rather he turned his ^[bn]attention toward the ^(ER)wilderness. ² And Balaam raised his eyes and saw Israel ^[bo]camping tribe by tribe; and ^(ES)the Spirit of God came upon him. ³ Then he took up his discourse and said,

¹⁰ Then Balak’s anger burned against Balaam, and he struck his ^[bu]hands together; and Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have persisted in blessing them these three times! ¹¹ So ^[bv]flee to your place now. I said I would honor you greatly, but behold, the Lord has held you back from honor.” ¹² And Balaam said to Balak, “^(FF)Did I not in fact tell your messengers whom you had sent to me, saying, ¹³ ‘If Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything contrary to the ^[bw]command of the Lord, either good or bad, ^(FG)of my own ^[bx]accord. ^(FH)What the Lord speaks, I will ^[by]speak’? ¹⁴ So now, behold, ^(FI)I am going to my people; come, and I will advise you of what this people will do to your people in the ^[bz]days to come.”

¹⁵ Then he took up his discourse and said,

²⁰ And he looked at Amalek and took up his discourse and said,

²¹ And he looked at the ^(FP)Kenite, and took up his discourse and said,

²³ Then he took up his discourse and said,

²⁵ Then Balaam arose, and he departed and returned to ^(FU)his place, and Balak also went on his way.

The Sin of Peor

25 While Israel remained at ^(FV)Shittim, the people began ^(FW)to commit infidelity with the daughters of Moab. ² For ^(FX)they invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. ³ So ^(FY)Israel ^[cg]became followers of ^[ch]Baal of Peor, and the Lord was angry with Israel. ⁴ And the Lord said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and ^[ci]execute them ^[cj]in broad daylight before the Lord, ^(FZ)so that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.” ⁵ So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you ^(GA)kill his men who have ^[ck]become followers of ^[cl]Baal of Peor.”

⁶ Then behold, one of the sons of Israel came and brought to his relatives a ^(GB)Midianite woman, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the sons of Israel, ^(GC)while they were weeping at the entrance of the tent of meeting. ^7 (GD)When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from the midst of the congregation and took a spear in his hand, ⁸ and he went after the man of Israel into the inner room of the tent and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman, through the abdomen. ^(GE)So the plague on the sons of Israel was brought to a halt. ^9 (GF)But those who died from the plague were twenty-four thousand in number.

The Zeal of Phinehas

¹⁰ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹¹ “^(GG)Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has averted My wrath from the sons of Israel in that he was ^[cm]jealous with My ^[cn]jealousy among them, so that I did not destroy the sons of Israel ^(GH)in My ^[co]jealousy. ¹² Therefore say, ‘^(GI)Behold, I am giving him My ^(GJ)covenant of peace; ¹³ and it shall be for him and for his ^[cp]descendants after him, a covenant of a ^(GK)permanent priesthood, because he was ^[cq]jealous for his God and ^(GL)made atonement for the sons of Israel.’”

¹⁴ Now the name of the ^[cr]dead man of Israel who was killed with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, a leader of a father’s household among the Simeonites. ¹⁵ And the name of the Midianite woman who was killed was ^(GM)Cozbi the daughter of ^(GN)Zur, ^[cs]who was head of the people of a father’s household in Midian.

¹⁶ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁷ “^(GO)Be hostile to the Midianites and attack them; ¹⁸ for they have been hostile to you with their tricks, with which they have deceived you in the matter of Peor and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of the leader of Midian, their sister who was killed on the day of the plague because of Peor.”

Census of a New Generation

26 ^[ct]Then it came about after the ^(GP)plague, ^[cu]that the Lord spoke to Moses and to Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, saying, ² “^(GQ)Take a ^[cv]census of all the congregation of the sons of Israel from twenty years old and upward, by their fathers’ households, whoever is able to go to war in Israel.” ³ So Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with them ^(GR)in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, ⁴ “Take a census of the people from twenty years old and upward, as the Lord has commanded Moses.”

Now the sons of Israel who came out of the land of Egypt were as follows:

⁵ Reuben, Israel’s firstborn, the sons of Reuben: of Hanoch, the family of the Hanochites; of Pallu, the family of the Palluites; ⁶ of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites; of Carmi, the family of the Carmites. ⁷ These are the families of the Reubenites, and those who were counted of them were ^(GS)43,730. ⁸ The son of Pallu: Eliab. ⁹ The sons of Eliab: Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. These are the Dathan and Abiram who were ^(GT)called by the congregation, who fought against Moses and against Aaron in the group of Korah, when they fought against the Lord, ¹⁰ and ^(GU)the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up along with Korah, when that group died, ^(GV)when the fire devoured 250 men, so that they became a warning sign. ^11 (GW)The sons of Korah, however, did not die.

¹² The sons of Simeon by their families: of ^[cw]Nemuel, the family of the Nemuelites; of Jamin, the family of the Jaminites; of ^[cx]Jachin, the family of the Jachinites; ¹³ of ^[cy]Zerah, the family of the Zerahites; of Shaul, the family of the Shaulites. ¹⁴ These are the families of the Simeonites, ^(GX)22,200 in number.

¹⁵ The sons of Gad by their families: of ^[cz]Zephon, the family of the Zephonites; of Haggi, the family of the Haggites; of Shuni, the family of the Shunites; ¹⁶ of ^[da]Ozni, the family of the Oznites; of Eri, the family of the Erites; ¹⁷ of ^[db]Arod, the family of the Arodites; of Areli, the family of the Arelites. ¹⁸ These are the families of the sons of Gad according to those who were numbered of them, ^(GY)40,500.

¹⁹ The ^(GZ)sons of Judah were Er and Onan, but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. ²⁰ The ^(HA)sons of Judah by their families were: of Shelah, the family of the Shelanites; of Perez, the family of the Perezites; of Zerah, the family of the Zerahites. ²¹ The sons of Perez were: of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites; of Hamul, the family of the Hamulites. ²² These are the families of Judah by those who were numbered of them, ^(HB)76,500.

²³ The ^(HC)sons of Issachar by their families: of Tola, the family of the Tolaites; of ^[dc]Puvah, the family of the Punites; ²⁴ of ^[dd]Jashub, the family of the Jashubites; of Shimron, the family of the Shimronites. ²⁵ These are the families of Issachar by those who were numbered of them, ^(HD)64,300.

²⁶ The ^(HE)sons of Zebulun by their families: of Sered, the family of the Seredites; of Elon, the family of the Elonites; of Jahleel, the family of the Jahleelites. ²⁷ These are the families of the Zebulunites by those who were numbered of them, ^(HF)60,500.

²⁸ The ^(HG)sons of Joseph by their families: Manasseh and Ephraim. ²⁹ The sons of Manasseh: of Machir, the family of the Machirites; and ^(HH)Machir fathered Gilead: of Gilead, the family of the Gileadites. ³⁰ These are the sons of Gilead: of ^[de]Iezer, the family of the ^(HI)Iezerites; of Helek, the family of the Helekites; ³¹ and of Asriel, the family of the Asrielites; and of Shechem, the family of the Shechemites; ³² and of Shemida, the family of the Shemidaites; and of Hepher, the family of the Hepherites. ³³ Now Zelophehad the son of Hepher had no sons, only daughters; and ^(HJ)the names of the daughters of Zelophehad were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. ³⁴ These are the families of Manasseh; and those who were numbered of them were ^(HK)52,700.

³⁵ These are the sons of Ephraim by their families: of Shuthelah, the family of the Shuthelahites; of ^[df]Becher, the family of the Becherites; of Tahan, the family of the Tahanites. ³⁶ These are the sons of Shuthelah: of Eran, the family of the Eranites. ³⁷ These are the families of the sons of Ephraim by those who were numbered of them, ^(HL)32,500. These are the sons of Joseph by their families.

³⁸ The sons of Benjamin by their families: of Bela, the family of the Belaites; of Ashbel, the family of the Ashbelites; of ^[dg]Ahiram, the family of the Ahiramites; ³⁹ of ^[dh]Shephupham, the family of the Shuphamites; of ^[di]Hupham, the family of the Huphamites. ⁴⁰ The sons of Bela were ^[dj]Ard and Naaman: of Ard, the family of the Ardites; of Naaman, the family of the Naamites. ⁴¹ These are the sons of Benjamin by their families; and those who were numbered of them were ^(HM)45,600.

⁴² These are the sons of Dan by their families: of ^[dk]Shuham, the family of the Shuhamites. These are the families of Dan by their families. ⁴³ All the families of the Shuhamites, by those who were numbered of them, were ^(HN)64,400.

⁴⁴ The ^(HO)sons of Asher by their families: of Imnah, the family of the Imnites; of Ishvi, the family of the Ishvites; of Beriah, the family of the Beriites. ⁴⁵ Of the sons of Beriah: of Heber, the family of the Heberites; of Malchiel, the family of the Malchielites. ⁴⁶ And the name of the daughter of Asher was Serah. ⁴⁷ These are the families of the sons of Asher by those who were numbered of them, ^(HP)53,400.

⁴⁸ The ^(HQ)sons of Naphtali by their families: of Jahzeel, the family of the Jahzeelites; of Guni, the family of the Gunites; ⁴⁹ of Jezer, the family of the Jezerites; of ^(HR)Shillem, the family of the Shillemites. ⁵⁰ These are the families of Naphtali by their families; and those who were numbered of them were ^(HS)45,400.

⁵¹ These are the ones who were numbered of the sons of Israel, ^(HT)601,730.

⁵² Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁵³ “^[dl]Among these the land shall be divided as an inheritance according to the number of names. ^54 (HU)To a larger group you shall increase their inheritance, and to a smaller group you shall decrease their inheritance; each shall be given their inheritance corresponding to the total of those who were numbered of them. ⁵⁵ But the land shall be ^(HV)divided by lot. They shall receive their inheritance according to the names of the tribes of their fathers. ⁵⁶ Corresponding to the selection by lot, their inheritance shall be divided between the larger and the smaller groups.”

^57 (HW)These are those who were numbered of the Levites according to their families: of Gershon, the family of the Gershonites; of Kohath, the family of the Kohathites; of Merari, the family of the Merarites. ⁵⁸ These are the families of Levi: the family of the Libnites, the family of the Hebronites, the family of the Mahlites, the family of the Mushites, and the family of the Korahites. ^(HX)Kohath fathered Amram. ⁵⁹ And the name of Amram’s wife ^(HY)was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt; and she bore to Amram Aaron and Moses, and their sister Miriam. ^60 (HZ)And to Aaron were born Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. ^61 (IA)But Nadab and Abihu died when they offered ^[dm]strange fire before the Lord. ⁶² Those who were numbered of them were ^(IB)twenty-three thousand, every male from a month old and upward, for ^(IC)they were not numbered among the sons of Israel ^(ID)since no inheritance was given to them among the sons of Israel.

⁶³ These are the ones who were numbered by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who numbered the sons of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. ^64 (IE)But among these there was not a man of those who were numbered by Moses and Aaron the priest, who numbered the sons of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai. ⁶⁵ For the Lord had said ^[dn]of them, “^(IF)They shall certainly die in the wilderness.” And not a man was left of them, ^(IG)except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.